New faces and new changes for Sri Lanka Cricket

Sri Lanka Cricket has decided to restructure its coaching staff, under which several outstanding players produced in the country are to be assigned new responsibilities. Accordingly, former players Ashan Priyanjan, Nuwan Kulasekara, and Rangana Herath will be given special opportunities in the cricket coaching division.

As a major change, Mr. Ashan Priyanjan has been appointed as the new head coach of the Sri Lanka 'A' team. Mr. Avishka Gunawardena, who served in that position until now, has been appointed as the head coach of the national Under-19 squad. Mr. Priyanjan, who rendered exceptional service to the Colombo Cricket Club (CCC) in the domestic cricket arena and later served as the head coach of that team, has gained experience and expertise that have been strong reasons for this new appointment.

The first challenge for the Sri Lanka 'A' team under the guidance of new coach Mr. Ashan Priyanjan will be the cricket series against the New Zealand 'A' team, which arrives in the island on the 2nd of next month. Although plans to implement these changes in the cricket coaching structure had been in place for about a year, their implementation was temporarily postponed due to the T20 World Cup held in Sri Lanka. Meanwhile, discussions are currently underway regarding assigning new coaching responsibilities to former star bowlers Mr. Nuwan Kulasekara and Mr. Rangana Herath within the next week.

All these changes are being made before the arrival of South African national Mr. Gary Kirsten, who is scheduled to take over as the head coach of the Sri Lanka national cricket team from the 15th of next month. Accordingly, several major changes have been made to the coaching structure of the 'A' team, emerging team, and Under-19 teams prior to his arrival. In addition, it is reported that many changes will be made to the assistant coaches in various departments currently attached to the national team, based on Mr. Kirsten's advice and requests.

Following the conclusion of the last World Cup, former head coach Mr. Sanath Jayasuriya stepped down from his position, and after several rounds of discussions aimed at finding a qualified foreign coach, Sri Lanka Cricket selected Mr. Gary Kirsten for this position. He served as the coach of the Indian national team from 2008 to 2011, and in the final year of his tenure, he led India to win the 2011 ODI World Cup. Subsequently, from 2011 to 2013, Mr. Kirsten took over the management of the South African national team, making a significant contribution to elevating the South African team to the No. 1 position in the world rankings across all cricket formats.